Winter Restaurant Weeks Return to Stamford

Cask Republic brings something new to downtown

It’s that time of year again for Stamford’s Winter Restaurant Weeks. From February 17 to March 3, 32 downtown restaurants will have prix fixe lunch and dinner menus, and everyone is invited.

“It’s a real hoot,” says Sandy Goldstein, President of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District, “It is so wonderful for someone who doesn’t want to break the bank and go to one of our restaurants.”

Goldstein says this is the biggest Restaurant Weeks has been to date, with more restaurants participating than ever before. Patrons can enjoy a meal at their favorite spot, or perhaps try something new; like Cask Republic on Summer Street, which opened in Stamford just seven weeks ago.

“Stamford is definitely a hot bed for restaurants right now,” says Casey Dohme, general manage at Cask Republic. “There’s a great eclectic group of restaurants down here, a lot of bars; it’s a lively city right now, so that’s been exciting for us.”

Cask Republic is the sister restaurant to the Ginger Man in Norwalk and Greenwich. And like its relatives, the restaurant is known for its wide selection of beer, with more than 50 choices on tap.

“Not just American craft beer but beer from all over the world; Japan, Italy, Belgium, Germany,” says Dohme. “We’ve also got a vintage beer program that we’re doing where we turned the wine cellar that was currently here into a beer cellar, so we’re aging beers.”

But Dohme says there’s more than just beer to bring to the table.

“What we really strive to do is have our food and our menu really live up to the beer.”

Dohme says the restaurant is also putting a focus on brown spirits in its Stamford location.

“What goes together better than Whiskey and beer,” he says. “We’re really trying to educate ourselves and give our customers a nice selection of brown spirits to pair well with the beer and to pair well with the food and kind of bring the whole thing together,”

Restaurant Weeks will kick off on Tuesday, February 18 at Hudson Grille, where more than a dozen bartenders will serve free samples of their signature winter cocktails. Visit stamford-downtown.com to find out more.